A basic introduction to using ActivInspire. Includes explanations of the basic tools and activities with step-by-step instructions.

Contents

3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 25. 26.

Getting Started with the ActivBoard. Changing the look and feel of ActivInspire. The Activinspire Toolbox. Creating and Saving Profiles. The Object Icons Creating Flipcharts. Writing and Text. Activity: Covering all the Even Numbers. Shapes. Activity: Shape Classification. The Resource Browser. Downloading and Importing Resource Packs. Activity: Using Colour to make a Colour Change Activity. Design Mode. Activity: Making a Cloze Activity. Using the Fill tool and bringing in text into a flipchart. The Tools. Activity: Where Are We? Using the Spotlight. Activity: Which Cities/Towns? Using the Math Tools. Activity: Grouping Objects. Activity: Desktop Tools. Activity: Adding Sounds. Useful Websites.

Getting Started with the ActivBoard

Step 1. Install the software. Follow the instructions in the CD case to install disk 1 and 2 on any computer that you will use with your board.
The file Subjects_ENU needs to be installed from the second disk. This is the resource library for use with the program, when prompted where to save these resources; choose Shared Resources.

Step 2. Plug the projector cable(VGA) and USB cable into the computer.

Step 3. Turn on the power to the board at the power point, as well as on the left hand side of your ActivBoard. Then turn on the projector using your remote control. The image from your computer should now be projected onto the board. Step 4. Make sure the projected image fits on the board (the image should be on the white part of the board). The image can be adjusted to fit the board through the menu accessed by themenu button on the projector remote. See your projector manual for more information. Step 5. Pick up the pen (grey or black) and move it on the board. The cursor on the board should move when you move the pen.
If the pen doesnt work, try a different USB port on your computer. The flame icon in the top left of the board will turn white when the USB is connected properly. If none of the USB ports work, you may need the latest driver for your computer. See Updating your Software below.

Step 6. Calibrate the board. Hold the pen over the flame icon in the top left hand corner for a few seconds, then follow the instructions on the screen.

Updating your Software to the Latest Version

To ensure you have the latest version of drivers and software, check in the Help menu of ActivInspire regularly. Just choose Check for updates and run the download. If you are not able to run the updates due to the proxy settings, please e-mail deb@conceptav.com.au for an information sheet on how to change these.

Become a Promethean Planet Member! Register free at www.prometheanplanet.com/conceptav. This will give you access to free online training, resources and flipcharts! Also check out the ActivTips (found in the Professional Development section of the website) for some great ideas.

Using the Pen

With the Pen Hover over board

Mouse equivalent Hover

Hover and press button

Right Click

Tap board/Press on board

(without pressing button)

Left Click

Changing the look and feel of ActivInspire.

You can change the look and feel of ActivInspire by swapping between the Primary and Studio look. Primary caters for the younger grades as tools the pens and highlighters are at the bottom of the screen.

Studio Look and Feel

Primary Look and Feel

1. Go to View Dashboard

2. In the left hand side of the dashboard, choose Configure. Then click the tickbox next to Launch next time using the Studio look and feel.

3. Click Close, then close ActivInspire. 4. Restart ActivInspire. It will now be in ActivStudio mode. (To change back to ActivPrimary repeat the process, remember to close ActivInspire and restart for the changes to take effect.)

The ActivInspire Toolbox

Desktop Tools

Next Page

Cursor/Select Tools Pen Eraser Shape Tool Text Tool

Highlighter Fill Tool

Handwriting Recognition

Page Browser

Clear Menu
Erases one type of object from page.

Reset Page
Returns the page to the last save.

Undo
Will undo one step at a time back to the last save.

Creating and saving Profiles.

Profiles can be created and saved to allow easy transition between having different icons in the main toolbox for different subject areas/lessons. For instance there is already a mathematics profile saved in the program which has all the maths tools in the main toolbox as individual icons. This saves the need to constantly be going through the tools menu to get to the maths tools. To switch between the profile go to ViewSwitch Profile and select the desired profile. Some of the profiles already saved include: Mathematics Authoring

At the Board

Customize your own toolbox and save it as a new profile. 1. Go to ViewCustomize. 2. On the left hand side of the dialogue box that appears are all the commands you could have in the toolbox. On the right hand side are the commands that are in the toolbox. 3. To add a command to the toolbox; cleft click on the tool e.g. magic ink. 4. Left click add. 5. To move the magic ink icon up and down, left click on the tool in the right hand side and left click Move up or Move Down until the tool is in the desired position. It moves in the actual toolbox as these buttons are pressed. 6. Once all the tools desired are added and in place. Left click on the Save Profile As... icon at the top right corner of the dialogue box. 7. Give your profile a name and hit save. 8. Click Done at the bottom of the dialogue box. 9. Go to ViewSwitch Profile and you will see the profile just saved as an option now in the drop down menu.

The Object Icons

Rotate Object. Left Click and hold whilst rotating to desired position. Object Edit Menu. Various options, such as locking.

Move Object. Left Click and hold whilst moving to desired position.

Group Objects. Click this when two or more objects are selected to group them together.

Translucency Slider. Left Click and hold, the slider will appear. Move sun up and down to change object translucency.

Edit Shape Points. Left Click to see squares appear around shape. Click and drag these points to make new shapes.

Bring Forward, Backward. Click to move object in front or behind other objects on the page.

Make Bigger, Smaller. Left Click to make object bigger or smaller.

Duplicate. Left Click to duplicate object.

Creating a Flipchart.

ActivInspire creates flipcharts. The flipchart can have numerous pages and can easily be added to, edited and saved for later use. The flipchart can be used to store a whole terms work in a subject area, allowing easy revision of topics or ideas covered earlier in the term. The Page Browser.

The pages in a flipchart can be viewed in the Page Browser. To go between pages left click on the page thumbnail. For example, to go from page 1 (what is displaying now) to page 4, left click on the page thumbnail for page 4. To view the Page Browser, Click on View and then click Browsers. The Browsers window will pop up on the left hand side of the page. Having the Browser sit off the side of the Page. There is a choice to have the browser flick in and out of view to the left hand side. When working on the flipchart page the browser will disappear off the side of the screen with just the side of it visible. To have it pop out, hover over the visible part with the pen or mouse. Pinning Open the Browser. There is also an option to pin open the browser, when pinning the browser open the page moves across, so no working space is lost. Pinning the browser open is handy when creating flipcharts and when accessing the Resources. To pin the browser open, click on the drawing pin icon in the top right hand corner of the browser so it turns yellow. To unpin the browser when you have finished working click on the drawing pin again so it turns grey. Move the cursor back out to the page and the browser will disappear off the side of the screen again.

Writing and Text.

Writing/Annotating. 1. Select the Pen tool from the toolbox. 2. Select the colour to use from the Colour Palette. 3. Write as per normal with a pen. Remember to press firmly to avoid Spider Writing. Width can be changed via the Four Width dots, and the Pen Width Slider under the colour palette.

Inserting a text box.

1. Select the Text Icon from the toolbox. 2. Left click on the flipchart page 3. Choose font, size, and colours from the font bar that appears at the top of the page when the text icon is chosen. Note the two colours are; the colour of the text itself and the background colour of the text box.

Handwriting Recognition 1. Click on the Tools menu icon in the toolbox. 2. Click on Handwriting Recognition (about half way down). 3. Write a word on the flipchart page, the writing will turn into text. If the word is wrong, a drop down menu appears with alternative words to choose from. Handwriting recognition changes writing into text using the last font that was used in the program. To change the font; choose the text icon, change the font in the font bar, then return to handwriting recognition via the tools menu.

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Covering all the Even Numbers.

1. Insert a text box and type in Cover over all the Even Numbers. 2. Insert a text box with 2, then a separate text box with 3 and so on until the page looks similar to the one below.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Then change to the Pen in the toolbox and choose red from the colour palette. Slide the Pen Width Slider all the way over to the right. On the flipchart page, left click once to make a pen mark. The pen marks are big enough to be counters. These can be moved around the page by choosing the Cursor tool in the toolbox, then left clicking and dragging the counters.

Other Ideas: Cover the element symbols over. Cover the decimals greater than one half. Cover the Factors of... Cover the vowels. 11

Shapes.

The Shape Tool To insert a shape on the page, click on the Shape icon in the toolbox. The shapes toolbar will pop up with a variety of shapes that can be used. At the bottom of the toolbar you will notice a small double arrow. toolbar further and have more shape options. To insert a shape 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Left click on the shape wanted. Choose the fill colour from above the shapes. Choose the outline colour from the colour palette on the main toolbox. Move the cursor out to the page. Left click and drag the shape out on the page. Click on this to expand the shapes

To move a shape Choose the cursor icon on the main toolbox, then left click and drag the shape to the desired location on the page. Editing a Shape Left clicking on the shape will bring up the object icons where you can, for example, change the order of objects, make it bigger or smaller or make it transparent. See page 8 to see what each icon does. To change the fill colour of the shape after it is on the page. 1. Choose the Fill icon. 2. Choose the colour desired from the colour palette. 3. Left click in the middle of the shape. To change the outline colour of the shape after it has been put on the page; 1. Left click on the shape so the marquee handles appear. 2. Then left click on the colour desired in the colour palette of the main toolbox.

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Shape Classification.

1. Insert a text box as the title to the page that reads Shape Classification. 2. Draw a table on the page by: a. Insert a box with no fill , and a black outline. b. Insert a vertical line that cuts the box in half. c. Insert a horizontal line that will underline the headings.

3. Insert two text boxes as the categories for the table e.g. regular polygon and irregular polygon. 4. Move these so they are in the correct position. Remember: to move objects the cursor must be selected. 5. Insert a selection of shapes at the bottom of the page. 6. Left click on the shapes one-by-one so the marquee handles appear. Then click the Edit Shape Points icon to show the points that can be changed. Using these shape edit points (left click and drag the points), create irregular shapes.

7. The shapes are then ready to be moved into the correct category. Other Ideas: Symmetrical and Non-Symmetrical. Less than four sides and More than four sides. Less than six corners and More than six corners. At least one right angle and No right angles. Isosceles triangles and Equilateral Triangles.

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The Resource Browser.

The resource browser can be accessed by clicking on the icon with the music note and clapboard at the top of the browser window (see page 9 if the browser has disappeared). The plus sign next to a folder means that folder contains more within it. Expand the folder out by clicking once on the plus sign or double click on the folder name. You can add extra Resources (images etc.) from Promethean Planet. How to do this is outlined on the next page. To bring things onto the flipchart page, left click the icon and drag it out onto the flipchart page.

Activities and Templates Backgrounds Background images to use in flipcharts. Contains ready-to-go activities such as hundreds grids and fraction walls.

Grids Various grids that fill the whole page. Horizontal lines can be found here.

Resource Packs Downloaded and Imported resource packs (from Promethean Planet) usually go into this folder.

Subjects Images, diagrams, clipart and animations etc. to use in flipcharts.

Sounds Sounds to bring into the flipchart.

Left click and drag an icon out to the page to insert into the flipchart.

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Downloading and Importing Resource Packs.

1. Go to www.prometheanplanet.com (if you havent registered go to www.prometheanplanet.com/conceptav and register). You will need to be a Planet member to download the resources. 2. At the top of the page, enter the term you wish to search and hit enter. For example: type Australia into the search box to find Australian resources.

3. Once the results show up, you will see on the left hand side of the web page, some options to filter the results. One of these reads Resource Type. Change this to Collection and Assets. Note: filters automatically, no need to press enter. 4. The search results will be filtered so that only the Resource Packs and single images are now showing. Note: You can tell the difference between a resource pack and a flipchart as resource packs have this symbol of the thumbnail. in the bottom right hand corner

5. Hovering over the top of the thumbnail will give you information and an enlarged image of the resource. Click the download button under the thumbnail to download and save the pack onto the computer. 6. Once it has downloaded. Open ActivInspire. 7. Go to File Import Resource Pack to Shared Resources 8. Locate the file that you have downloaded (there is usually a Download folder in My Documents. 9. Click Open. 10. The file will Import into ActivInspire, and the Resources will then Index. 11. The Resource Pack can now be found in your Resource Browser- usually in the resource packs folder within Shared Resources.

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A Colour Change Activity.

1. Click on the Shape icon in the toolbox. 2. Choose a rectangle. Choose red for the fill colour and red for the border. 3. Move the mouse pointer to the flipchart page, and draw a rectangle (left click and drag). 4. Still on the rectangle tool, change the fill colour to blue and the border colour to blue. 5. Draw another rectangle on the page (about the same size as the first). 6. Arrange the rectangles on the page so they are side by side. The rectangles need to overlap. Note: to move shapes the cursor tool must be selected in the main tollbox. 7. Click on the text tool, and type your first word/ number (e.g. hot) above the coloured

boxes. In the same text box, leave at least three spaces and type the second word/ number (e.g. cold). 8. Insert another text box with Thin and Fat in it, with at least three spaces between the words. Repeat with as many text boxes as desired. 9. Click on the fill tool . Choose red from the colour palette and change one word from each

text box to red, by left clicking on the words. Choose blue from the colour palette and change the remaining words to blue.

10. Click on the arrow tool and drag the text box onto one of the coloured rectangles. Repeat for all the other words/ numbers. 11. Put an image on the joining line of the flipchart if you want to drag object through an object e.g. hat or machine. Lock this object by right clicking on the object, and selecting Locked from the menu that appears. Note: to move the locked objects enter design mode, see next page for details. Other Ideas: Number Muncher: how many more make... Which famous person? Who Is it? Capital Cities and Countries. Solve the equation for x. What is the element symbol?

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Design Mode.
Design mode allows locked objects to be moved, actions/sounds to be moved around the page without starting the action or playing the sound. Also, design mode will allow the resizing of actions and locked objects. Left click on the object to bring up the marquee handles and resize as per normal. All actions will have a red square around the outside, indicating this object has an action attached to it.

Using Design Mode 1. Enter design mode by left clicking on the gear icon at the top right hand corner of ActivInspire 2. The gear icon will turn red to indicate you are in design mode.

3. Once objects have been edited, return to Presentation Mode by click on the gear again. 4. The gear will turn blue indicating that the Flipchart is in Presentation Mode.

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Using the Fill Tool and Bringing Text into a Flipchart, to make a Cloze.
1. Open the word document Giraffe text. (Any word document and most websites will also work.) 2. Left click and drag to highlight the text you want on the flipchart page. Let go of left click. 3. Left click and drag the highlighted text to where ActivInspire is minimised, keep holding the left click down and bring the mouse cursor up onto the flipchart page. Let go of the left click button when you see the text on the flipchart page. 4. Click on the text tool and then click on any of the words in the text, the cursor will

then start flashing at the end of the text. It is now possible to edit the size, font of the text etc. by highlighting the text and using the font bar at the top of the page. 5. Make sure the text tool is still selected, and the cursor is still flashing in the text box somewhere (there will also be dotted lines and marquee handles round the block of text). 6. Double click on the words you want to extract (it is also possible to left click and drag across the word to highlight it). 7. Drag the word out from the text by left clicking and dragging. Repeat to have a selection of words from the text. 8. Click on the fill tool . Choose a white fill.

9. Click on the words in the original block of text that you made duplicates of. They will turn white and be invisible. 10. Use the fill tool to make the duplicate words down the bottom a different colour. 11. Use the shapes to make a word box if you like. The box will need to have a no fill, choose the square with the cross through it for this option.

Other Ideas: Use different colours to look at keywords, verbs, adjectives etc.

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The Tools Menu.

The Maths Tools

To use a math tool on the page, left click on the tool in the drop down menu that appears. The tool will then appear on the page. It can be manipulated via the arrows that appear when hovered over different parts of the tool. A summary of those arrows can be found below. To close the tool, either click on the menu icon and choose Close or left click and drag the tool into the bin. Moving and Rotating the Maths Tools A cross arrow indicates the object can be freely moved around the page. Left click and drag to move the object around the page. Straight arrow indicates the object can be made smaller and bigger. A curved arrow indicates the user can rotate the object.

The Revealer The revealer allows only part of the page to be shown at once. It can be pulled from the any side of the page. For example, the revealer could be used to only reveal one step in a procedure at a time, one instruction at a time or only part of a piece of text. To move the revealer left click and drag it in the direction you wish to move it. To turn it off; click on the menu icon in the right hand corner of the revealer , and click closed. The Spotlight The spotlight shows only a small portion of the page at once. The spotlight can be moved around the page from anywhere outside the spotlight (so anywhere that is black). To make the spotlight bigger and smaller left click and drag the blue border of the spotlight in and out. There is the option to have a circular or square spotlight. Solid Circular/Square Spotlight is the opposite of spotlight. This type of spotlight will cover a portion of the page, this could be used to hide answers.

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Where are We? Using the spotlight.

1. Open the Resource Browser (View Browsers). 2. Drag onto the page the picture of the Parthenon from Subjects Art Architecture. 3. Re-size the image using the bottom right hand marquee handle (to keep the proportions), so the image fills the page.

4. Place a yellow circle with a yellow outline in the top left hand corner of the page. 5. Insert a text box: Where Are We? 6. Place this over the circle. 7. Turn the spotlight on and centre it on the circle. 8. The spotlight can be moved from anywhere outside of the spot. The size can also be changed left clicking and dragging the edge of the spotlight in or out.

Note: The Revealer Tool is also found in the Tools menu. Turn the revealer on and off by left clicking on it in the Tools menu. Other Ideas: What animal is it? Which painting? The brushstrokes of various artists. Reveal the question, discuss, reveal the answer. Looking at steps in a flowchart individually.

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Which cities or towns? Using the Maths Tools.

1. The map of western Australia comes from the resource pack Australia:Maps found on Promethean Planet. 2. Insert the map by dragging and dropping it into ActivInspire. Note: hold down the left click until the image can be seen on the flipchart page. 3. Re-size the image to the desired size. Note: Using the bottom right corner marquee handle maintains the proportions of the image. 4. Insert two text boxes with the following: Which towns or cities are within 300km of Perth? Hint: Use the compass and scale to help you. The compass can be accessed from Tools Maths Tools. Place this on the page for students to use when figuring out the answer. The Hint could be covered over by a shape and revealed after discussing how to solve this problem.

Other Ideas: How far is it? Distances using the scale and a ruler on a map (local map, school map etc.) Compass: Venn Diagrams. Pie charts/circle graphs. Dice Roller: Tallying dice values. Board Games. Using Google Maps/Scanned images, look at areas of famous landmarks such as the Pyramids of Giza. 21

Grouping Objects.

1. Place a list of countries on the page each one in a separate text box. 2. Place them on the left hand side of the page. Make the first one Australia. 3. Draw an arrow on the page. 4. Duplicate this arrow by left clicking once on the arrow (you will need to be on the select tool), then from the icons that appear at the top click on the Duplicate icon . Repeat for as many arrows as required. 5. Insert a text box with the text Canberra in it. 6. Place one arrow and Canberra apart from each other (at least half the page), but in line with each other.

7. Draw a fence around the two objects, by left clicking and dragging the light grey area across the two objects. 8. Click on group to group the two objects together. The grouping icon will turn yellow to show they are grouped together.

9. Move the arrow so that you push the Canberra off the page. 10. Pull the arrow across to reveal the capital city of each country!

Other Ideas: Maths questions and answers. Research topics. Who/What Am I? Which Habitat? Have the animal hidden off the page, pull to the correct habitat.

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Desktop Tools.

1. In the toolbar, click on the desktop tools icon. 2. The program will now disappear, apart from a small wonderwheel which will be somewhere on your screen.

3. Open the document/image that you have scanned. (Crossword). 4. Move your pen/mouse over the WonderWheel. Choose: Camera Area Snapshot icon. 5. You will see a blue rectangle on your page somewhere. Use the resize handles on this rectangle so it covers the whole of the image that you wish to select.

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6. From the dialogue box on the screen, choose Snapshot to Current Page.

7. Go back to the Wonderwheel and click on the Return to Flipcharts icon.

8. You will find the document is now pasted on the flipchart page and you can easily write on it, highlight etc.

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Adding Sound.

1. Add a background to the page from the Backgrounds section of the Resource Browser. 2. Then go to Subjects General Animals and drag the elephant out onto the page. 3. Go to Sounds and click on Animals then find the elephant. Note: the sounds are in alphabetical order and a label will pop up when you hover over the sound icons. 4. Pull the sound out onto the page by left clicking and dragging it to the page. 5. When first pulled onto the page the marquee handles are visible, use these to resize the sound icon so it covers the entire elephant.

6. Then use the translucency slider (the sun icon above the sound) to make the sound icon transparent. 7. Group the elephant picture and the elephant sound together by clicking outside the elephant and dragging a fence so they are selected. Then click on the grouping icon so it turns yellow. The elephant and the sound are now grouped and will move together.

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Useful Websites.

Promethean Planet Register at www.prometheanplanet.com/conceptav. Free courses can be found on Promethean Planet under Professional Development. The courses are self-paced and a certificate is awarded once the course is completed. Activtips are short videos presenting useful and practical ideas for using the ActivInspire tools in the classroom. These can be found under Professional Development. Forums are for Promethean users to post. There are product and technical support forums for posting any issues that may be occurring and have solved on line. There is also a Curriculum forum with posts asking for ideas, posts about interesting websites, teaching ideas and blogs. Free Resources that include both flipcharts ready to use, and resource packs to add to your Shared Resources collection.

Interactive Whiteboards WA www.interactivewhiteboardswa.com.au User Group, School Holiday Refresher Courses, Training Dates can be found on this website. Training and School Holiday Refresher Course dates can be found under Training. User Group information is found under User Groups. User Groups are available to anyone to attend and if a free one-hour session outlining new ideas or skills to use in the classroom. School Holiday Refresher Courses are available to anyone who has completed a training course with Concept AV, and looks at refreshing IWB skills. These dates can be found under Training. WA Dotted Thirds and Australian Flipcharts/Resources can be found under Resources on this site. Resources used during User Groups are also posted here.

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 2011 Deborah Simpson

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